The invention relates to a method for evaluating the quality of a component produced by means of an additive laser sintering and/or laser melting method, in particular a component for an aircraft engine. The invention further relates to a device for carrying out a method of this type.
Additive laser sintering and laser melting methods for the manufacture of components, such as, for example, components for aircraft engines, are already known as such from DE 10 2004 017 769 B4, for example. In selective laser melting, thin layers of powder of the material or materials used are placed on a construction platform and locally melted and solidified by using one or a plurality of laser beams. The construction platform is then lowered and another layer of powder is applied and again locally solidified. This cycle is repeated until the finished component is obtained. The finished component can then be further processed as needed or immediately used. In selective laser sintering, the component is produced in a similar way by laser-assisted sintering of powdered materials. However, laser sintering and melting methods have not been used so far for serial production of components for aircraft engines. In addition, a process authorization, a prerequisite of which is the monitoring of diverse process parameters, such as, for example, the laser power as well as the nature and state of the powdered material and the like, is required, in particular, for the use of components that are produced by additive laser methods and are subject to high loads. In this case, the individual process parameters have to be monitored at intervals in the course of a process monitoring by means of a respectively adapted, elaborate method of measurement. The inspection effort that thereby ensues is great and correspondingly time-consuming and cost-intensive. Furthermore, a continuous monitoring of all relevant process parameters is often not possible a priori. In addition, all individual measurements must be harmonized with their respective tolerance ranges, as a result of which the analysis effort is additionally relatively great in order to be able to make statements about the quality of the component produced by additive manufacturing.